Showing posts with label Tommy Thompson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tommy Thompson. Show all posts

Saturday, August 02, 2014

Creating Color Harmony in Oil Paintings Using a Limited Pallet

Most beginning painters want to solve the problem of color choice by buying as many colors of paints as their budget will allow. Before buying all of those paints, why not try the limited pallet that so many great artists use and are very successful with. Try these colors: titanium white, ultramarine blue, cadmium red light, cadmium yellow light, and I add one more paint to the list--transparent oxide red, or some companies call it transparent red oxide. I use the transparent oxide red for my darks and grays. By mixing transparent oxide red with ultramarine blue, I get very close to a transparent black. When I mix white with my darks and more ultramarine blue, I get a cool gray.  When I mix my darks with more transparent oxide red, the result is a warm gray. Mixing cadmium yellow light to these darks and grays gives me a whole series of greens. By using this limited pallet, you can mix virtually all of the colors in nature with the exception of some colors of flowers. If you are painting flowers, you may need to add alizarin or some purples. Remember that your computer printer uses red, yellow, blue and black ink. The color of the paper adds the white. The advantage of using this pallet is that you can very easily go back and remix any color that you have previously mixed.


"Tuckered Out," 11x14 Oil on Canvas by Tommy Thompson

An art gallery director remarked that this painting illustrates color harmony. I created "Tuckered Out" depicting a farmer carrying water to his little cabin in the foothills of Tennessee. Country life figures prominently in my paintings because of my childhood. Art critics have told me that my painting style resembles that of the Barbizon school. The Barbizon school of painters were part of an art movement toward realism in art. The Barbizon school was active roughly from 1830 through 1870. It takes its name from the village of Barbizon, France, where many of the artists gathered. Some of the most prominent features of this school are its tonal qualities, color, loose brushwork, and softness of form. The Barbizon painters preserved a rapidly disappearing rural life style and focused on painting working people as they went about their daily life. Two of the noteworthy Barbizon painters include English painter, John Constable, and the French painter, Camille Corot.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Ingram Hay Bales

"Ingram Hay Bales," 6x8 Oil on Panel by Tommy Thompson

I painted "Ingram Hay Bales" at a farm in Leiper's Fork, TN. I have conducted two oil painting workshops in the quaint little village that counts among its residents some of the most recognized names in the music industry. We enjoy visiting the area to partake of the delicious food, seeing the pristine farms and viewing the excellent artwork available in the village's galleries.This painting is now in a private collection. If anyone is interested in purchasing a giclee print of this original, you may do so at this link:
http://tinyurl.com/mssqw7r

Radnor Lake Evening Solitude

"Radnor Lake Evening Solitude," 30x40 Oil on Canvas by Tommy Thompson

Radnor Lake in Nashville, TN, is a favorite painting location for many plein air painters in Middle Tennessee. Members of the Chestnut Group, plein air painters for the land in Nashville, have participated in paint-outs at this lake for many years. My daughter, Michelle Rideout, and I have painted there on several occasions. My latest painting, "Radnor Lake Evening Solitude," captures a view of the lake that is special to many. Giclees of this painting are available in various sizes; email tommy@tommythompsonart.com if you are interested in purchasing a less-expensive giclee.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Ken Auster's New Video, "Intellect and Passion"

Happy New Year to Everyone! If any artist has not made New Year's resolutions, you may like to check out Alyson B. Stanfield's list of "Artist Resolutions" on her web site, ArtBizCoach.com, for an interesting perspective. One resolution she offers is to "Resolve to practice a ten-second commercial about myself so that I know what to say when meeting new people." Alyson offers a subscription to a very helpful, interesting newsletter on her web site.

A New Year's gift to myself is Ken Auster's new 3-hour video entitled "Intellect & Passion." I studied under Auster at the Scottsdale Artist School's Plein Air Painters of America (PAPA) Workshop in Old Lyme, Connecticut, in 2003. In fact, on his new video, Auster refers to a conversation that he and I had at Old Lyme. During the workshop, I watched another PAPA artist paint a scene with the trees in the distance painted a pale, misty blue. When I asked that artist why he was painting the green trees in the distance blue, he said, "I am painting what I see." During Auster's demo, he said, "You paint what you know, not what you see; you know that the trees in the distance must be painted a pale blue in order for them to recede into the distance." That day I told Auster that I was so glad to hear him say that because the other artist had confused me and caused me to think that I must be color blind because I definitely did not see blue trees in that scene. I was surprised to hear him recount our conversation on his new video. Auster's video can be purchased by calling 949-494-9525 or via Ken Auster.com. This week I enrolled in Auster's 3-day workshop scheduled for Nashville in October 2007. This workshop is being sponsored by the Chestnut Group.

The excitement is building around the studio as we get ready for the "Art Event at Lipscomb," scheduled for Friday, February 9, 2007, through Sunday, February 11, 2007, at Lipscomb Campus School in Brentwood, Tennessee. A slate of 43 fine artists are scheduled to participate in this event, which always proves to be very successful.

The new year has brought me some new exciting opportunities. One example is an invitation to submit work to the Trinity School's "Spotlight on Art Artist Market and Gala," scheduled for February 13-17, 2007, in Atlanta. Another message invited me to submit work for consideration in Decatur, GA's Arts Alliance Fine Arts Exhibition scheduled for May 22-June 3, 2007, in the Dalton Gallery at Agnes Scott College.

Anyone who is looking for an exceptional workshop conducted by one of Nashville's finest artists would do well to check out those offered by Roger Dale Brown. Roger is a signature member of the Oil Painters of America, member of the Cumberland Society of Painters, and the Plein Air Painters of the Southeast. Roger has won numerous national and regional awards, and his work is carried by several outstanding galleries in the South.

Artists will be interested in checking out the exceptional service in web site development and maintenance offered by Clint Watson of Fine Art Studio Online (FASO). You will be pleasantly surprised at how Clint has simplified the process of establishing and maintaining an artist web site.

Happy Painting!

Tommy Thompson

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Kevin Macpherson's New Book, "Landscape Painting: Inside and Out," and DVD, "Brush with Life: Kevin Macpherson's Landscapes"

We would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We have many exciting happenings to look forward to in 2007.

If our fellow artists have not received or requested a special gift for Christmas, you may wish to consider a new book by a master plein air painter from Taos, NM--Kevin Macpherson. His new book is entitled Landscape Painting: Inside and Out. In this book Kevin shows how to use a limited palette as he does, how to incorporate impressionistic touches of broken color to give a landscape painting depth and vibrancy that enhances its realism, and how to control the fleeting qualities of atmosphere and light by establishing a value plan early and sticking with it. His step-by-step demonstrations are presented in easy-to-understand language. You can learn more about the book and order it from Kevin's web site. My wife and I met Kevin and Wanda Macpherson in 2003 at the Plein Air Painters of America Workshop in Old Lyme, CT, and later in Tuscaloosa, AL, at another painting workshop. I am pleased to have been accepted as a participant in Kevin's 2007 "En Plein Air Masters Chateau des Arts Mentor Series" to be conducted at Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies. Kevin is an enthusiastic, entertaining, and inspiring teacher, and Marie and I look forward to another exciting painting adventure with the Macphersons.

Another excellent gift idea for artists is the new instructional video entitled "Brush With Life: Kevin Macpherson's Landscapes," which is available from Brush with Life. This new DVD will be appreciated by artists and art collectors alike. In the video Kevin lets you know what he is thinking as he paints. He shows the scene that he is painting, broken down into value puzzle pieces, and he takes you through the process for two paintings from start to finish. He shares his effective method of capturing the magic of the moment with spots of beautifully related color in an impressionistic painterly style. The setting of the video moves from a location in France to his home studio in Taos, NM and the surrounding area. An additional segment called "Anyone Can Paint," which proved interesting to us, shows how his wife Wanda, who has a business background, has now taken up painting and doing quite well.

For those artists who need a trouble-free method of having a web site and maintaining it, you may wish to check out Clint Watson's ingenious plan at http://www.fineartstudioonline.com This has proven to be an excellent solution to maintaining our web site at www.fineartstudioonline.com/tommythompson

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

Tommy Thompson